Our first month in Buffalo

Arriving in Buffalo June 28^th, for me, was an adventure in itself!  Not only was I the only student from the English program at Semmelweis, but I was also the only student arriving alone at our beautiful new apartment close to downtown Buffalo! I did not know what to expect from the others or the city itself!

Needless to say the other three students; Réka, Niki, and Bálint were extremely friendly. We all sat around that evening on the balcony sharing our personal journeys that brought us together in Buffalo, and we bonded over being so far removed from our element.

That first weekend we were extremely fortunate to meet Éva T. and a few others in the Hungarian community here in Buffalo. One of the local Hungarian scouts, our new friend, Klári néni, was generous enough to bring us on a day trip to Niagara Falls state park! Here we spent the day exploring the falls! For me it was an entirely new experience seeing  this wonder from the American side. We spent most of the day hopping on-and-off the state park trolley, taking photos, and staying hydrated…IT WAS HOT!

My first day of rotations was a fantastic learning experience - My supervisor for the month would be Dr. I. M., a well established OB/GYN here in Western New York.  He is a member of the board of directors, and one of the chairman for the HMAA. Needless to say, he is one of the most knowledgable doctors I have ever had the privelage of working with. I was lucky to become his shadow for four-weeks. Over the course of the month I learned a copious amount of clinical knowledge both in theory and in practise. That first day I assisted Dr. I. M. in both a Cesarian section, and a forceps assisted vaginal delivery. Working in an American operating theatre was a thrill, and also something I always looked forward to throughout the month.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the day-to-day life of a student doing an OB/GYN rotation. I believe it is an experience best lived and not read. To be able to grasp the true value of the learning experience future students will have to come and live it themselves!

Our day-to-day lives as exchange students over the course of the first month has been a balancing act between managing our clinical studies, and trying to do as much as possible in our free time.

On a daily basis we come home from clinical, fill in the others on how the day was spent, and then we try to do something fun to take advantage of the days remaining hours. Day-to-day acitivies have been; heading down to the gym in the building mezzanine for some much needed exercise, or biking around the city to explore (we were pleasently surprised to find four bicycles with the apartment when we arrived!). Buffalo has an amazing lakeside trail that is perfect for biking or walking. This trail stretches from downtown Canalside all the way along the Erie canal to the Peace bridge which separated Buffalo, New York from Fort Erie, Canada. This is a must see and do for all future students!

To share some of the highlights of our journey so far I would like to expand a little on my three favorite events the city of Buffalo has had to offer:

Taste of Buffalo – Our second weekend here corresponded with an amazing city event that only takes place once a year! Each year the best restaurants in Buffalo come together on Delaware Avenue (right on our street!) with food trucks that cook little portions of the best of their menu. We were able to walk from our apartment and mingle with the locals as we tried a variety of foods from every culture! Balint and I chose the local restaurant Dirty Bird as our favourite. Chicken and waffles are a must try for anyone visiting Buffalo!

  July 4^th – Independence day – As the summer exchange students we were lucky enough to experience independence day 2018 here in Buffalo. The city organizes an annual event with fireworks down on Canalside. Canalside is a beautiful part of Buffalo right downtown on the Erie canal with a boardwalk along the water edge. Local food trucks and a free concert are available at no cost (the entry was free!). When the sun goes down there is a firework shown overhead and everyone at the event watches and takes photos and videos. It is a must see event for anyone visiting Buffalo during July 4^th.

Italian festival – Like many other cities in the United States the Italian culture has a strong influence on community life. Every year Buffalo hosts an Italian festival where local Italians display the best of their culture during a fun-filled weekend. This year I was lucky enough to enjoy the Italian festival on my birthday! My parents came to join Réka, Niki, Bálint, and I for the weekend. Saturday night we went down to the Italian festival on the lower harbour of Buffalo. We enjoyed carnival rides, local pizza, deep fried mozarella, and delicious canollis! It is an awesome weekend event I recommend for future students visiting Buffalo!

    July 29, 2018

   Ákos Kazinczi